Getting ready for Wet Weather

[Plawless]

Stolen from Escape Velocity's site:

Winter Riding:

This is a public service announcement.

As we move towards the Dark and Wet Months, a friendly reminder to you all that fenders on the fall/winter/spring club rides are mandatory. And not only are fenders mandatory, but so too is a good mud flap. A fender sans mud flap will keep your ass dry, but the people behind you will be none-too-impressed...

Fenders & Mud Flaps Explained

Fenders are those impossible-to-install-and-stop-rubbing devices that go over your wheels. The really good ones are hard plastic or a light metal (aluminum)

Mud flaps are the add-ons at the bottom of your fenders, designed to stop the spray from coming up in the face of the people you are riding with (on the back wheel) and completely soaking your bootie-clad feet (on the front wheel). Typically, you build your own mud flap and attach it to the fender with some kind of small screw / zap-strap combo.

Materials include:

old water bottles
cut-in-half cans of Guinness
plastic clothes dryer duct tubes (GJ)
used laundry soap detergent containers
Or anything else that is plasticky, can be extended low enough down to stop spray and doesn't weigh 5 pounds soaking wet.

So if you're coming out for a wet weather club ride, please be considerate and make sure your bike has the proper fender/mud flap combo. If not, you will be relegated to the back of the bus and forced to ride with others who did not get their winter bikes ready in time...

Good fenders look like this:

fenders.jpg (13.6 KiB) Viewed 5856 times

[lisajeffery]

is it possible to buy a very light weight crapflap for the fenders - I dont recall ever seeing something nice.

Thanks

[Lister Farrar]

I got some here, http://ecom1.planetbike.com/7028_1.html but they say they're still out of stock. Will email again and report back.

L

[Lister Farrar]

Spoke to Kristin at Planet Bike and they expect to have them in the next 6 weeks, but will call back to let me know. I said our cycling club's survival depends on me getting 20 pair asap after Tuesday's dramatic absenteeism.

Lisa, they said the warranty department can probably get you a single pair now if you want to go that route. Call 866.256.8510.

[4827north]

In MEC the other day and noticed the planet bike fenders have the rubber flaps included with a new set.

[Josh.E]

Those planet bike crap flaps still don't quite cut it for keeping the person behind you dry. It needs to be no more than 2" from the ground and rigid/wide enough to not swing from side to side to really work.

[sylvan]

It needs to be no more than 2" from the ground and rigid/wide enough to not swing from side to side to really work.

Is this gonna do 'er, do you figure? One of these years if I get back to town I'd like to do some rides again...

[sylvan]

I might zap a half a water bottle onto the bottom of that unit for total coverage...

[jeremy]

Another thing to think about is, check your tires, summer road slicks or well used tires can be quite a pain in the ass during the winter months. A great example of this would be my ride this morning, I have a great brand new tire on the back of my bike but decided to not change over the front tire until "I really need to", and on my ride this morning I got three puncture flats on my front tire (and yes I was quite carefull in checking the tires when I was changing them). This wouldn't have been to big of a deal except for the fact that I only had 2 spare tubes, and after the 2nd flat I told the rest of the group that I was gonna play it safe and head for home, and then about 5km from home I got the third flat and had a great walk (in my bike shoes) home.

So to sum up, if your tires are getting worn, it would be in your best interest to go get a pair of gator skins or armadillos. It'll help save some tubes.

[Lister Farrar]

Another thing to think about is, check your tires, summer road slicks or well used tires can be quite a pain in the ass during the winter months. A great example of this would be my ride this morning, I have a great brand new tire on the back of my bike but decided to not change over the front tire until "I really need to", and on my ride this morning I got three puncture flats on my front tire (and yes I was quite carefull in checking the tires when I was changing them). This wouldn't have been to big of a deal except for the fact that I only had 2 spare tubes, and after the 2nd flat I told the rest of the group that I was gonna play it safe and head for home, and then about 5km from home I got the third flat and had a great walk (in my bike shoes) home.

So to sum up, if your tires are getting worn, it would be in your best interest to go get a pair of gator skins or armadillos. It'll help save some tubes.

I'm actually still working on making sure my spare tube doesn't have a hole in it from the last flat!

But new tires and tubes don't prevent occasionally having three + flats, if they are new to fitting them properly, or can't find the glass or wire. Maybe carry a small tube of glue, sandpaper and a few patches, and learn how to patch? Don't carry the plastic box the kit comes in; rattles too much. Use a small zip lock.

[jeremy]

Ya, I was thinking that having a patch kit would've been great to have , I'm going to get one asap. And maybe this morning was just bad luck, I checked the flats each time and they were all different punctures, so it wasn't a problem with missing the glass or wire, or fitting the tube properly.